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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TO DELIA: 34 by SAMUEL DANIEL

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHEN WINTER SNOWS UPON THY SABLE [OR, GOLDEN] HAIRS
Last Line: THEY WILL REMAIN, AND SO THOU CANST NOT DIE.
Subject(s): LOVE;

When winter snows upon thy golden hairs,
And frost of age hath nipped thy flowers near;
When dark shall seem thy day that never clears,
And all lies withered that was held so dear:
Then take this picture which I here present thee,
Limned with a pencil not all unworthy;
Here see the gifts that God and nature lent thee;
Here read thyself, and what I suffered for thee.
This may remain thy lasting monument,
Which happily posterity may cherish;
These colors with thy fading are not spent;
These may remain when thou and I shall perish.
If they remain, then thou shalt live thereby;
They will remain, and so thou canst not die.



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